Lost in Africa» Restaurants

Nutritional benefits of passion fruit

admin — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 22:33:26 +0000

Origin:

The purple passion fruit is native from of the rain forest margins in southern Brazil through Paraguay to northern Argentina. . It has adapted to the cooler sub-tropics and the high altitude tropics. There are many other species spread widely around the globe and about 50 species are native to New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific and South East Asia

It has been stated that the yellow form is of unknown origin, or perhaps native to the Amazon region of Brazil, or is a hybrid between two species. Cytological studies have not borne out the hybrid theory. Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, India, South Africa, Kenya, Philippines, Indonesia and several other countries in Asia, Africa and South America in Australia the purple passion fruit was flourishing and partially naturalized in coastal areas of Queensland before 1900. In Hawaii, seeds of the purple passion fruit, brought from Australia, were first planted in 1880.

Passion fruit acquired its name from Spanish missionaries who thought parts of the plant’s flower resembled different religious symbols. The missionaries who accompanied the Conquistadors to South America saw in its striking flower a means of illustrating the Crucifixion; the 10 petals and sepals represented the apostles, the crown of thorns was seen in the filaments, the five anthers represent the five wounds, the three stigmas were allied with the nails used to pierce the hands and feet of Jesus and the vine’s tendrils were equated with the whips.

Nutrition Facts General Information:

Low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium

High in Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Potassium

The nutritional value and health benefits of passion fruit make it ideal for:

Maintaining optimum health

Weight loss

Avoid including passion fruit in your diet if you’re interested in:

Weight gain

Passion fruit is a good source of vitamins A and C, as well as potassium and iron. One passion fruit has only 16 calories. When eaten with the seeds, a serving is an excellent source of fiber. Passion fruit is a good source of fiber. It relieves muscle tension and anxiety and is used to calm the nerves, headaches and muscle aches and spasms. Passion fruit is known to lower blood pressure and is especially useful for nervous insomnia.

Nutritional Highlights

Passion fruit (raw), 1 cup (236g)

Calories: 228

Protein: 5.2g

Carbohydrate: 55g

Total Fat: 1.6g

Fiber: 24.5g

Excellent source of: Vitamin A and Vitamin C (70.8mg)

Consultation of web sites for writing this article is thankfully acknowledged.

The Maasai community: Living in the past

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 22:22:06 +0000

The Maasai are a herding culture tribe in Kenya and Tanzania, Africa. Their lifestyle reflects the harsh environment in which they live, with unpredictable rainfall and difficult agricultural conditions.

The Maasai keep zebu as their primary cattle, but the also farm cows, sheep and goats, and occasionally chickens. Because of the wet and dry seasons- as oppose to summer and winter- they often have to graze their herds far from their settlements to find water and vegetation. This job falls to the men.

The only other important job that is carried out by the men of the tribes is making decisions, for example which tribe will graze where during the wet and dry seasons. Jobs such as cooking, milking the cattle, gathering wood and water and close herding fall to the women of the tribe.

The cattle eat from the sparse vegetation in the area, whilst the people eat rice, dairy products, beans and ugali- a maize-based product. The Maasai do not eat their animals except on special occasions, they only trade them for crops, as they do not grow crops themselves. However, the Maasai drink the blood of their animals to get important nutrients for their bodies, although they are careful not to kill the cattle, as their wealth is measured in the number of animals they keep.

Both the people of the tribes and their cattle get their water from the same sources, mainly waterholes, wells and other natural sources such as rivers. However, neither the people nor the cattle can drink from the so called “soda lakes”, as they are polluted by volcanic ash.

To find enough vegetation, and in order to profit from the relief rain in the high mountain ranges of Kenya, the Maasai move their cattle to higher terrain- mostly above 2000 metres- throughout the dry season. In the wet season, they then return to sub 2000 metres, as there is enough water to go around. They also have to move around a lot, as it takes the vegetation longer to recover with the dry, hot climate.

Inclusive in the shifting nature of this culture are, sadly, many problems. Over-grazing is a common problem, as the Maasai have to share a restricted area to graze their cattle in each season. This leads to lack of water and disease spreads easily, as the animals are living in close quarters. These problems result in rising tensions between tribes and tribe elders.

The final problem that arises is a result of all other factors. Namely, desertification. The over-grazing leads to erosion of the ground, and the vegetation does not recover well after the cattle leaves. All in all, this means that the Maasai area is becoming a victim of desertification.

As a solution to these problems, the Maasai has formed the aforementioned “council of elders”, which makes decisions as to which tribe will graze where and when, to avoid over-grazing and the destruction of the land. However, this is only a short-term solution.

The Maasai culture is slowly being lost to the dominant, over-developing “Western” culture. This can be seen in the increasing amount of western clothes found in their tribes, and also the modernising of houses and the use of plastic containers and storage devises. This is very sad, as the Maasai is one of the few “original” shifting cultures we have left, and we should do all we can to protect it.

How to Reserve the Most Enjoyable Golf Lodging Around Spain

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:15:06 +0000

If you want to combine amazing prices with an incredible golf hotel, Spain is where you need to go. The service is at European levels, the grounds are incredible, the golf is even better and the prices are affordable.

In Costa del Sol in Spain, you’ll find the Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, a 6,857-yard, Robert Trent Jones designed golf course that annually hosts the Volvo Masters and has been described as the most visually striking course in continental Europe.

But that’s not the only hot course in the region or the country. Costa del Sol is home to 36 courses alone and Spain itself offers hundreds of both public and private courses for you to enjoy. To find out more about the region and the best courses, keep reading.

The Andalusia Region

Costa del Sol is located in Andalusia and it’s only a 50 minute flight from Madrid. Along this incredible coastline, there are piles of amazing courses. Aside from the golf though, you can enjoy beautiful Spanish towns, hike nearby hills or simply lie by the beach and relax.

Recommended Golf Courses

Valderrama isn’t just a difficult course – it’s also hard to obtain a tee time unless you have a lot of advance notice. If you can’t get into Valderamma, you may want to try one of the following other courses or resorts. The Golf Club Marbella was also designed by Robert Trent Jones and is located close by. The Real Club de Golf Las Brisas is historic and gorgeous. The Golf Torrequebrada is tortuous and a course for the truly adventurous.

Other Things to Do

Along the fabled coastline, now bursting with hotels, marinas and casinos, there are also many small harbors where boats can be chartered for fishing expeditions and water skiing. Yet if visitors have already found enough water on golf courses, they should consider other diversions, such as excursions to Grenada, Seville and small whitewashed towns in the Sierra Nevadas first settled by the Phoenicians and Romans centuries ago.

But no matter what your pleasure, whether it’s golf, a cultural adventure, or even a short ferry ride to Morocco from the port town of Algeciras – at day’s end, eat and drink heartily, because on the Costa del Sol, particularly at its many beachside restaurants, the no-frills cooking is pescadito sardines and small squid or calamaritos, usually roasted on spits and, best of all, served with famous sweet Malaga wines.

Places to Stay

If you need a golf hotel, Spain has a number of great resorts in the Andalusia region. When your taste is old-school style and luxury, then try the Marbella Club Hotel. On the other hand, if you want something a little more modern and budget-friendly, try the Atalaya Park Golf Hotel and Resort. Finally, for the best in five-star golf, stay at the Fairplay Golf Hotel and Spa.

Spain is such a beautiful location for a vacation anyway. But when you combine such a trip with the thrill of a superb golf course, that is a very tough combination to beat.

A review of the top fine dining restaurants in Atlanta

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:57:38 +0000

With such a vast range of upscale restaurants in Atlanta, choosing where to dine can be difficult. So how does anybody decide on just one? By knowing the best of the best: the ones with features that stand out from the rest.

Most Authentic Local: Restaurant Eugene

Most Atlanta restaurants take pride in Southern hospitality, but Restaurant Eugene is one of the few that offer upscale down-home cuisine to go along with it. With dishes like “A Study in Mississippi Rabbit” and “Georgia English Pea and Buttermilk Soup”, there’s plenty of regional flavor to be savored. To top it all off, the beverages are as delectable as the Southern gourmet meals. Restaurant Eugene received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence four years in a row!

Most Authentic Foreign: Veni Vidi Vici

Two years in a row, from the Atlanta Business Chronicle, Veni Vidi Vici received the Consumer’s Choice Award for Business excellence. Not only is the service laudable, but meals arrive steaming, fresh from the kitchen. Duck is served straight off the spit! As the Executive Chef at Veni Vidi Vici, Jamie Adams must deliver authentic Italian tastes. Good thing he spent nearly five years mastering his craft in Italy.

Best Menu: JOEL

Chef Joel Antunes founded the gastronomic gem that is JOEL. To make him the culinary mastermind that he is today, he learned and practiced his skills in London, Asia, Paris, and Southern France. Once Atlanta, he created French dishes with outstanding Asian and Mediterranean panache. JOEL’s extraordinary menu offers fine entrees like “Duck Leg Confit, Fregola Pasta, Banyuls Jus”, scrumptious desserts, such as “Chocolate Pistachio Millefeuille”, and includes an exquisite thirty-page wine list.

Most Unique: Kyma

Nothing quite compares to Kyma, the posh Greek seafood tavern. Upon walking in, two words come to mind: upscale spaceship. Imitation constellations sprawl across the deep blue ceiling. The structure includes bold curves, which makes sense; “kyma” translates to “wave” in English. Even the food is innovative. Executive Chef Pano I. Karatassos puts a modern twist on traditional Greek. His ingenious work has been recognized in national publications like Wine Enthusiast and In Style.

Best Chef: The Dining Room

Through 21 years of booming business, The Dining Room of the Buckhead Ritz-Carleton has delivered mouth-watering meals, surpassing the highest of expectations. Executive Chef Arnaud Berthelier is the fourth appointed to The Dining Room kitchen. He has perfected his talent all of over the world, from the Sinai Peninsula to his native Northeastern France. The tastes of Spain, Africa, France, and the Mediterranean are all palpable in the dishes he prepares.

Best Decor: Bluepointe

Contemporary, cool, and colorful are all defining qualities of Bluepointe. This sleek restaurant is a bustling singles scene where anyone can get an impressive martini. When it comes time to dine, be prepared for American fare with a bold Asian flair. This kind of cuisine is admired for its distinctive flavors. Standing out in Atlanta’s upscale dining scene is not easy, but places like Bluepointe still manage to make it look effortless.

A Kenya Safari Holiday Must Include The Meru National Park

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:34:59 +0000

The Meru National Park is a must go to destination if you are planning a safari holiday in Kenya.

It is over 320 kms from Nairobi, on the slopes of the Nyambeni Mountain range to the north east of Mount Kenya at an altitude of between 1000-3400 Ft and has an area of over 850 sq Kms.

It has been in existence since 1968 and became famous as the home of George & Joy Adamson and Elsa the Lioness, whose grave is marked here, who lived in the Kora National Reserve, which along with the Bisanadi, Rahole & Mwingi National Reserves are associated with Meru.

Meru is a great place to go for a Kenya Safari Holiday because not only is it wild, beautiful and relatively uncrowded, because it is the least visited of Kenyaâ€™s larger Parks, but it also has a good cross section of game to view.

This is brought about firstly by the position of Meru which lies across the Equator, and is split by thirteen rivers and many mountain streams, which branch out from the Tana River at the southern border.

In terms of scenery there is everything from high woodlands to wide open plains with a huge number of riverbanks.

A section of the park has been designated as a wilderness area, and so there are no roads there, although the rest of the park has decent access roads and tracks, which deteriorate quite dramatically in the rains.

The game you should expect to see will include large prides of lion, elephant, cheetah, leopard, and Lesser Kudu duiker and Dik Dik antelopes. You may also see some of the largest herds of buffalo in Kenya, with a lot of hippo and crocodile in the rivers. Meru was one of the areas that suffered most through poaching twenty years ago, but good policing and security patrols have driven out the poachers.

There are believed to be over 300 different species of birds here at Meru so if your Kenya Safari Holiday is primarily one of ornithology then you should be more than happy to see species including Peterâ€™s Finfoot, Pelâ€™s fishing owl, kingfishers, bee-eaters to name just a few.

The beauty of Meru is that you will not encounter many other tourists when out on a game drive.

To get to Meru is a question of driving for around eight hours from Nairobi to Meru town. In all probability youâ€™ll need to organize a Safari Lodge package, and this would be part of it. If you want to access Kora National Reserve, along with the Bisanadi, Rahole & Mwingi, then this can be difficult and needs organizing in advance.

There are three airstrips that you can use to access Meru on your Kenya Safari Tour.

The times to visit Meru on your Kenya Safari Holiday are definitely the dry months, and the climate is generally hot and dry with an average altitude of around 2000 feet. Youâ€™ll find the nights are quite pleasantly cool, even a jersey in the evenings!!

The summer months are December through March, the rain then falls between March and May. The winter is July to September and it rains again between November and December.

At Meru you will need to take precautions as it is a malaria area, so wear light long sleeved clothing and long trousers with DEET sprayed on as the most effective insect repellent.

You need to sleep under treated mosquito netting, and the doors and windows should be screened against mosquitos. If you are lucky enough to have a fan or even airconditioning then even better, but just remember malaria prophylaxis doesnâ€™t totally prevent Malaria, itâ€™s best to cover up and spray.

The Meru is probably not the best National Park to visit if this is your first ever Kenya Safari Holiday, but if you have an eye for detail and previous experience then you must not leave it out as part of your next Kenya Safari Tour.

For more information about In Kenya Safaris Go To http://www.in-kenyasafari.com/pages/Site-Map.html

The prehistoric human diaspora

admin — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 10:08:12 +0000

THE PROBLEM: HUMAN REMAINS FROM HOMO ERECTUS INDICATE THAT THESE EARLY HUMANS WERE ESTABLISHED IN MANY LOCATIONS WORLDWIDE, ABOUT 1.5 TO 1.9 MILLION YEARS AGO. FURTHER GENETIC EVIDENCE HAS ESTABLISHED THAT THERE WAS INTERACTION BETWEEN AFRICAN AND ASIAN POPULATIONS.

THE BASIC OUT OF AFRICA THEORY HOLDS THAT HOMO ERECTUS AND LATER HOMO SAPIENS LEFT AFRICA IN WAVES CROSSING INTO ASIA AND EUROPE. H. ERECTUS SUPPOSEDLY LEFT AFRICA 1.5 MILLION YEARS AGO, AND H.SAPIENS 100,000 YEARS AGO.

It will be obvious that the problem and the theory don’t have much in common except referring to the same species and the same planet. Professionals please bear with some glaringly obvious statements while I make this argument.

Matters are not noticeably improved by the fact that H. Erectus seems to have been everywhere he was supposed to be “going”, nearly half a million years before he’s supposed to have left. Perhaps the theory needs some work.

A further possibility is that the Asians were the ancestors of at least some of the others, including one of the Africans. That raises one or two issues, too. Just to complicate things, apparently “out” of Africa wasn’t the general theme of some of the early humans. They went to Algeria and Morocco, probably for no other reason than to annoy anthropologists, but they went there.

I have no desire or intent to denigrate the decades of hard work that went into making these discoveries. Quite the opposite. I think the theories are now a poor testimony for the work.

Inevitably, as more information arises, theories get cluttered. Logic gets stuck on details which may or may not be in the correct context(s). Let’s try another approach:

(1) The animal in question is a new-ish form of life, a go-anywhere/eat anything, species.

(2) Going anywhere and eating anything, in the prehistoric environment, was a very dangerous process. Long distances increased risks. New food types, poisonous plants, dangerous animals, the dangers are both plentiful and serious, and mistakes can do terrible things to small groups.

(3) The constraints on the movement of any living thing are food and above all water.

(4) Viable populations, able to move or expand for any length of time, must have conditions in which they can prosper. Population growth indicates that H. Erectus was a very successful breeder. Therefore they must have been able to maintain themselves well, and make their operational ranges effective.

(5) Physical obstacles,

Natural and Organic Skincare Products and What They Can Do For You

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:59:18 +0000

Once upon a time the business of shopping was very simple, but now it seems that purchasing even the most everyday of products requires a long period of squinting at a big list printed in small font, trying to remember whether parabens were good or bad, essential oils to be avoided or welcomed, ginger extract suitable for muscle cramps or not.

Unlike natural and organic skincare products, many of the intensively branded, expensively marketed, high profile products subsidise their marketing budgets by using liberal quantities of chemicals and synthetics, often to extent a products lifespan (allowing the shipping between factory and shop shelf to be unhurried) or to perfume a product that would otherwise smell of burning plastic or chemical death.

Whilst analogies between the food industry and the skin care industry are not perfect – after all, one does not have to be a incurable cynic to suggest that some of the big brand food manufactures out there use more dubious ingredients than we might like â€“ what is certainly true is that the privileging of organic, or at least relatively additive free foods has not entirely crossed over in consumerâ€™s attitudes toward skincare.

This is crazy, because our body absorbs around sixty percent of everything that we place on our skin, meaning that ingredients in our creams and lotions become just as cosy to us as the food we eat.

For this reason more and more people are turning their attention away from the well advertised, but not entirely beneficially constructed, big brands and taking the time to find out about the benefits of various natural and organic ingredients. Whereas a couple of years there was the assumption that the more ingredients a product had contained within it the better it was for us, now the tide is shifting, and many of us are aware that a well produced and packaged product consisting of a few genuinely beneficial natural or organic products can far better meet the needs of our skin than itâ€™s chemically cousins.

An example of a fantastic natural skin product is Scin Boutiqueâ€™s very own This Works Deep Calm Bath and Shower Gel. Rather than other, non natural shower gels that we can choose to lather onto our body, our This Works products work their magic thanks to the fantastic natural properties of the plants that we use as ingredients. In the case of our Deep Calm shower gel, lavender â€“ grown at high altitude in France â€“ is used for its antibacterial properties, as well as for its calming and relaxing scent.

In addition wild camomile, grown in Morocco, is used in combination with vetivert for their calming and soothing properties (anyone who has ever enjoyed a cup of camomile tea will attest to its relaxing properties).

Another great body wash on the market which utilizes the power of natural ingredients is the Green People Nourishing Body Wash.

This product uses ylang ylang and ginger for their natural uplifting properties, and avoids parabens and other artificial fragrances that can lead to the â€˜chemical cocktailâ€™ â€“ the unpleasant thought of many different chemicals penetrating and remaining in our bodies.

Home to the Barbary Apes

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:08:11 +0000

Gibraltar is connected to Spain by a ferry to Morocco and flights to London. The border with Spain is open 24 hours a day, and you can drive or walk in with no restriction on the number of border crossings in a day. It is located at the entrance of the Mediterranean.

Gibraltar is a duty free and VAT free a shoppers paradise and offers duty free goods despite changes elsewhere in Europe. Main Street, Gibraltar s principal shopping thoroughfare, runs almost the length of town. Turn off Main Street into the little lanes and alleys and there are even more shops. Items to look out for include fine glassware, leather goods, perfumes, silks jewellery, both precious and semi-precious, porcelain, and cashmere.

Prices at the airport, for tobacco and spirits, are among the least expensive in the world.

If you enjoy good food and drink, you will love Gibraltar s cafe society and dining. There is an amazing choice of places to eat and drink. French, Moroccan Italian, Indian, English, Spanish and Peking are just some of the options on the menus of the first class restaurants.

There are no shortages of places to go in the evening in Gibraltar. The hotel cocktail bars offer comfortable and sophisticated surroundings for a quiet drink or, for a more informal evening, almost every street in town has lively cosmopolitan pubs and wine bars. Later you might dance into the small hours at one of Gibraltars nightclubs or enjoy a flutter at the Casino.

For such a small destination, visitors are pleasantly surprised to hear that Gibraltar has six beaches around its shoreline. Four of these, Eastern Beach, Sandy Bay, Western Beach, and the picturesque village of Catalan Bay.

The tailless Barbary apes that have inhabited the notorious Apes Den halfway up the rock since before the Moorish invasion were on the point of extinction in 1944. Churchill took charge and ordered fresh stock to be brought in from North Africa. His plan was so effective that today the enthusiastic breeding by the monkeys and resultant population explosion is causing concern.

Gibraltar is incredibly rich and full of surprises at any time of the year with a wide Array of plant life, many of which are native to the area, dolphins in the Bay of Gibraltar, and other marine mammals which include the Pilot Whales of the Strait, Killer Whales and even larger species such as Sperm Whales and a course the Rock Apes, Gibraltar also has its own unique bird, the Barbary Partridge

Best Beaches – Lanzarote Hits Top List

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 23:41:40 +0000

Just a hundred miles from the coast of Africa, Lanzarote is one of the most popular islands for European holidaymakers, not just for the traditional summer weeks but for winter too, as the weather for the island – often in the 70’s even in December and January – make it the ideal destination for tourists from Northern Europe to head to to escape the winter blues.

And being able to relax on the beach and catch some rays over the Christmas and New Year festivities is enough in itself to tempt many to take a holiday in Lanzarote then.

But now a leading internet site has confirmed what many holidaymakers to Lanzarote already knew – that not only are the beaches great but one Lanzarote beach ranks among the best in the world.

The site points out that while Lanzarote is just a hundred miles off Africa, it is Spanish, and describe the locals as ‘passionate’.

And of Lanzarote’s 90 beaches they say the best one, which ranks among the best in the world, is on the south of the island, at Caleta del Congrio, with an 87 per cent privacy rating.

They also suggest that those who like wind surfing should head for a different Lanzarote beach – the four mile long Famara Beach.

Other areas that were in the top beach list include Barbados, Turkey, Paros in Greece, Loreto in Mexico and Malibu in California.

World class beaches and water sports aren’t all that await Lanzarote tourists though. Puerto Del Carmen for example, which is one of the island’s most popular towns for holidaymakers, is a hub of excitement for many family activities.

And if the Lanzarote tourist is looking for a sports filled holiday rather than a family one, Puerto Del Carmen offers sports enthusiasts a wide range of activities. Locally owned diving shops often take tourists on amazing underwater adventures to various places around the island. Diving schools are available for those who wish to learn to dive or snorkel.

Windsurfing, swimming, boating, jet skiing and paragliding are also very popular water sports enjoyed by many locals and tourists. Sports enthusiasts also can enjoy golfing, cycling, running, hiking, camping and other local activities, including the Ironman competition.

Costa Teguise, another area favoured by tourists taking holidays in Lanzarote, is the smallest of the three large resorts on the island. It is about 6 miles northeast of the capital city Arrecife. The entire resort is built on former lava fields and saltpans. The resort consists of several apartment blocks, bungalows and villas. Primary attractions are the golf course, a marina, commercial shops and entertainment. Many visitors enjoy the water park in the outskirts of the resort.

Playa Blanca is a quieter area of the island, and often preferred by those who take their Lanzarote holiday in a villa rather than in a hotel.

Once a small fishing port. Playa Blanca is very popular with families due to its size and many family friendly beaches. Two more beaches were recently added to Playa Blanca to help make up for the lack of space on the main central beach. Along the well maintained and manicured streets there are several shops, restaurants and clubs. Lanzarote’s Playa Blanca offers many sports and attractions for tourists of all ages.

But above all, if Lanzarote should be a magnet for any particular type of tourist, it has to be the beach lover – there’s 90 to choose from including one of the best in the world today!

Elephant Watch Camp In Samburu As Part Of A Kenya Luxury Safari

admin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 04:53:39 +0000

You will find Elephant Watch Camp in splendid isolation in the Samburu Game Reserve. As is very common with Camps and Lodges the Elephant Watch Camp is situated right next to a river, in this case the Uaso Nyiro River, and right on one of the sand banks, which is one great place to stay on a Kenya Luxury Safari.

What makes Elephant Watch Camp so special isnâ€™t just the situation where it sits beneath big kigelia and acacia trees. Nor is it just the fact that this area of Samburu plays host to some of the largest bull elephants who are to be found wandering close to the tents picking acacia pods, and there is nothing more thrilling than a close encounter with an elephant.

It isnâ€™t the fact that the trees are filled with lots of birds and monkeys, or that baboons call out, there are leopards nearby, as well as the inevitable lions. Yes all this is a feast for all the senses, but that isnâ€™t what makes Elephant Watch Camp so very special.

What makes Elephant Watch Camp so special can only be partly explained by its location, because it is a combination of other factors which combine to make this place an essential port of call on any Kenya Luxury Safari.

So what is it that makes the essential difference?

To start with there is of course the location, that cannot be faulted, and the view at night of flame torches and lanterns lighting up the camp along the river is unforgettable.

The size of the camp is a definite plus, because there are only a maximum of ten guests at any one time at Elephant Watch Camp. What this means is a totally personal, closely supervised and very safe and secure environment, where you will be looked after better than you could ever believe possible.

Elephant Watch Camp was designed on very specific eco friendly lines, and has been built to maximise comfort and coolness. The tents are wide and bright and breezy, all individually styled and lots of colour in the unusual furnishings, such as huge cushioned sofas, the furniture having been made from fallen trees.

The bathrooms are built round trees, which makes washing interesting with sun heated water, and sun powered lighting. This is the only source of water and electricity because otherwise there is no running water or electricity. This is an old fashioned safari camp and that is really what makes this place special. The smell of paraffin lamps will stay with you long after you leave.

There is a large mess tent tables, comfy chairs and setees, carpets and rugs Menus are varied with a great mixture of farm fresh bush gourmet tropical fruits, and some great wine. Eating at night is accompanied by the evocative sounds of the Kenya Bush.

The whole emphasis at Elephant Watch Camp is on local guides with local knowledge, who know everything there is to know about the elephants. Every day is different as you walk on bush walks following well established elephant paths early morning or evening led by an English speaking Samburu guide. What you will see is so unpredictable itâ€™s yet another part of what makes Elephant Watch Camp so special.

Finally one of the most interesting and unique things you will get the chance to do is to visit the Save the Elephants Research Centre, where so much effort is being put in to ensure a future for the African Elephant. It is very moving to see what has happened and what is being done to change things.

Take a Luxury Kenya safari at Samburu and enjoy the best few days of your life at Elephant Watch Camp

For more information about In Kenya Safari go to http://www.in-kenyasafari.com/pages/Site-Map.html